An old, embarrassing photograph, personal details on a ghost networking site, account details on a now-defunct shopping website or other such lingering data that could come back to us in ways that we least expect — been here before? Merely deleting an account doesn’t erase the digital footprints we leave on social networking websites. So, what does one do if they want to be completely forgotten, digitally of course?
Three days ago, the European Commission proposed a new set of online privacy rules that would allow users to delete any or all personal information from the Internet, unless the information owners have a valid reason to withhold it.
Popularly coined as the ‘right to be forgotten’, the law seeks to empower a Web user to determine how much information the Internet can retain about you. So, if you want your account with that networking website deleted and your ‘prints’ wiped off, it will be done. You could cease to exist! Unless, you’re into smuggling assault rifles and that sort of thing.
In EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding’s words, “Today vast amounts of personal data are transferred and exchanged around the globe in fractions of seconds. The protection of personal data is a fundamental right for all Europeans, but citizens do not always feel in full control of their personal data.”
And this is the statistic for our country — India is all set to become one of the Internet’s most bustling markets. With over 800 million Web users, personal information on the Web is tripling every day. This law could just bring about the required moderation.
“Obviously, it’s a lot of work for the enforcing body, especially in making sure the power to delete info isn’t abused or wrongfully exercised. Verification of requestor’s authenticity will also prove to be an uphill task. But all these measures are a move in the right direction for much-needed online privacy,” says computer engineer and quizzer Srikanth Aditya.
Bharat Bhattad, an UI Intergrator with KRDS, a company that develops apps for Facebook, doesn’t feel the law will see the light of the day. “Promising as it might seem, the law might not be that big a hit because we, as modern-day users, are very well aware of its pros and cons.”
But like with any other law, the proposed one has its own sets of drawbacks too, the biggest one being that deleting digital info might hamper criminal inquiry. Also, such a system might aid individuals in isolating themselves from the real world, making themselves ‘untraceable’.
It also leaves some important questions unanswered — will the process to delete personal data be fool-proof enough to make sure false requests aren’t taken action on? Will requests to delete data be recorded? And given around 500 million users in Europe alone, how practical will it be to implement such a law?
One can do nothing but wait, watch and wonder about the coming five years of Web and privacy.